The C. elegans T-type calcium channel CCA-1 boosts neuromuscular transmission.

ABSTRACT: Low threshold-activated or T-type calcium channels are postulated to mediate a variety of bursting and rhythmic electrical firing events. However, T-type channels' exact physiological contributions have been difficult to assess because of their incompletely defined pharmacology and the difficulty in isolating T-type currents from more robust high threshold calcium currents. A current in C. elegans pharyngeal muscle displays the kinetic features of a T-type calcium channel and is absent in animals homozygous for mutations at the cca-1 locus (see accompanying paper). cca-1 is expressed in pharyngeal muscle and encodes a protein (CCA-1) with strong homology to the alpha1 subunits of vertebrate T-type channels. We show that CCA-1 plays a critical role at the pharyngeal neuromuscular junction,

SUBMITTER: Steger KA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1382270 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature